Legal evolution of the concept of ‘home base’ for the purpose of determining labour and social security law applicable to European aircrew members

This paper has a dual aim: (1) to outline the legal evolution of the ‘home base’ concept and (2) to map the role of this concept in determining the law applicable (both employment law and social security law) to employment contracts of European aircrew members. An in-depth analysis of the relevant portions of (1) Reg. (EEC) No 3922/91, (2) Reg. (EU) No 465/2012, (3) Reg. (EU) No 83/2014, (4) EASA's 2014 Certification Specifications, and (5) the European Court of Justice's preliminary ruling on joined cases C-168/16 and C-169/16 is conducted.What emerges is that (1) the ‘home base’ definition, due to its subjectivity, has traditionally been susceptible to multiple interpretations and (2) due to regulatory ambiguity, the use of ‘home base’ to identify the labour laws applicable to airline workers has for a long time been inconsistent, ranging from one extreme (being considered a key element for this purpose) to the other (being assigned a secondary role). It was only in the last few years that some improvements were made, with Reg. (EU) No 465/2012 first and the European Court of Justice's 2017 preliminary ruling then, clarifying that the ‘home base’ concept must be assigned a central role in the determination of the law (both social security law and employment law) applicable to employment contracts in the aviation industry.     

Is forest carbon sequestration at the expense of bioenergy and forest products cost-efficient in EU climate policy to 2050?

Forest management affects the quantity of CO₂ emissions in the atmosphere through carbon sequestration in standing biomass, carbon storage in forest products and production of bioenergy. The main question studied in this paper is whether forest carbon sequestration is worth increasing at the expense of bioenergy and forest products to achieve the EU emissions reduction target for 2050 in a cost-efficient manner. A dynamic cost minimisation model is used to find the optimal combination of carbon abatement strategies to meet annual emissions targets between 2010 and 2050. The results indicate that forest carbon sequestration is a low-cost abatement method. With sequestration, the net present costs of meeting EU carbon targets can be reduced by 23%.     

Carbon and energy prices under uncertainty: A theoretical analysis of fuel switching with heterogenous power plants

European power producers have a major influence on the EU ETS, given that both their CO₂ emissions and their EUA (European Union Allowance) allocations account for more than half of the total volumes of the scheme. Fuel switching is often considered as the main short-term abatement measure under the EU ETS. It consists in substituting combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) for hard-coal plants in power generation. Thereby coal plants run for shorter periods, and CO₂ emissions are reduced. This paper provides the first theoretical analysis of fuel switching, in a context where power plants involved are not equally efficient. We begin with a preliminary work using illustrative examples and sensitivity analyses, which enables us to observe how differences in the efficiency of power plants impact the cost of fuel switching, and how this is related to the level of switching effort. Based on this, we build a theoretical model taking into account the effect of differences in the efficiency of power plants involved in fuel switching. We also investigate the effect of the timing of fuel switching abatements, within the temporally defined environment of our dynamic model. Results demonstrate that the gas price and uncontrolled CO₂ emissions act together on the carbon price. We show that the influence of the gas price on the carbon price depends on the level of uncontrolled CO₂ emissions, due to heterogeneity of power plants that are used in the fuel switching process. Furthermore, we show that the time of occurrence of uncontrolled emissions matters so that shocks have a stronger impact when they occur in a period that is closed to the end of the phase.     

欧盟海关同盟战略及其执行评析

摘要：海关同盟是欧盟的三大支柱之一，也是欧盟单一市场的基石。因此，欧盟一直通过其海关同盟战略及其各类实施工具来强化有效、高效、统一、协调的海关联盟。在三十年的海关同盟演进过程中，欧盟海关同盟战略都是承接并贡献于欧盟总体经济规划目标。在其三项海关同盟战略之间以及海关同盟战略与海关行动计划之间存在着延续与发展的关系。为了实现欧盟海关战略目标，欧盟采取了软硬结合的开放协调机制以实施其战略。     

基于组合模型的江苏省居民用电量预测分析

研究利用时间序列基本分析方法ARIMA模型分析法、指数平滑ETS模型和神经网络自回归模型对江苏省居民每月用电量进行数据分析、处理、拟合、检验及预测,以2004年1月至2017年12月用电计量数据作为分析样本,使用R软件对该时间序列进行建模。对给出的数据建立ARIMA模型、ETS模型和NNAR神经网络自回归模型,接着利用MAE、RMSE、MAPE三个评价指标来衡量模型的优良度。尝试通过组合模型对2018年江苏省居民12个月的用电量进行预测,与实际值进行对比验证,发现权重模型的误差最小,选择作为最终预测模型。最后得出结论,组合模型的预测效果要优于非组合模型。     

欧盟竞争法豁免制度及对我国的启示

竞争法豁免制度可以平衡竞争政策与经济政策、社会政策之间的冲突,有助于实现竞争法的多重价值目标。以基础性条约、欧盟理事会的条例、欧洲委员会的通知、指导建议及欧洲法院判例为渊源,以个案豁免和类别豁免为内容,欧盟的竞争法已建立起完备的豁免制度。我国反垄断法豁免制度的构建既要借鉴"他山之石"又要立足于"本土资源"。在制度设计上至少应思考并解决三个问题:豁免制度具体应包含哪些类型的豁免?豁免制度的适用采用审查确认制度还是直接适用制度?豁免制度立法采具体列举式还是原则概括式?     

Stuck outside the single market; Evidence from firms in central and eastern Europe

Border effects on firms’ performance are typically estimated following reduced barriers to trade, for instance due to new trade agreements. This paper estimates a border effect on increasing barriers for firms located outside of a new external EU border following the 2004 and 2007 EU enlargement. In a repeated cross-section of three flows of EBRD-World Bank survey data, the study encompasses 23 border regions in 10 countries, four of which bordered new EU/Schengen countries. Taking border transformations as exogenous changes to firms’ environments, and focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises near borders, the results indicate that five years after enlargement, firms in non-EU member states near a new external EU border experienced a fall in sales of 40% and exports of 70% relative to firms near borders that did not change. Firms on the EU side of the same border experienced no such negative effect. Ten years after enlargement, the negative effects effectively disappeared.     

中国-欧盟信息通信技术合作的契机与挑战

中国与欧盟在信息与通信领域的科技合作始于20世纪80年代。多年以来,信息通信一直是欧盟直接对华投入最大的科技合作领域。中国与欧盟信息通信技术合作机制不断完善,合作方式日益多样化。中国与欧盟互有需求,法律框架提供了制度保障,合作机制日臻完善,加之中国与欧盟成员国之间有友好合作的基础,种种有利条件使信息通信合作成为中国与欧盟科技合作的重点领域之一并具有很大发展空间。     

欧洲2020战略旗舰计划：创新型联盟（上）

“创新型联盟”是欧洲2020战略七大旗舰计划之首,由欧委会2010年10月公布,欧盟理事会2011年2月批准,是欧盟未来10年的科研与创新战略文件。该战略以10年内把欧盟建设成为“创新型联盟”为目标,要求欧盟把创新作为首要和压倒一切的政策目标,提出了加强研发投入、提高资金使用效益、实现教育现代化、4年内建成统一的欧洲研究区、简化科研计划管理、促进成果产业化、实现欧盟单一专利、启动“欧洲创新伙伴”行动、推动社会创新、加强国际合作等十项工作重点,并提出部署相关配套措施,开展欧盟层面的科研与创新绩效监测工作,确保“创新型联盟”各项目标的实现。本文是“创新型联盟”旗舰计划的译稿,供国内相关部门参考。     

欧元挑战美元:失去的机会

早在10年前,在欧元创立之初,欧元的国际地位就被提上了国际议程。随着全球金融危机的爆发,对美元的全球角色的质疑日渐增多,欧元受到了进一步关注。然而,当美元的国际地位备受审查时,欧盟及其货币还没有承担起任何积极主动的角色。本文探讨的是,欧元是否能逐渐成为国际货币,不仅在欧盟及其他国家的贸易中,还要在第三国之间的贸易中被使用,即欧元是否能挑战美元的当前地位,在国际货币体系中成为主要储备货币。